Dallas Cowboys: Midseason predictions and playoff cautionary tales

Week 16 and 17 Predictions

In what will be the biggest game of the season, Dallas will travel to Philadelphia for Week Sixteen. A win will lock the Cowboys into first place in the division and punch their playoff ticket.

The Eagles will have desperation and short term memory on their side. They will know that losing the game will effectively end their season and they will remember that the Cowboys put a 27 point beat down on them in Week Seven in Dallas.

The Cowboys will be seeking to atone for their Week Fifteen missed opportunity. They will also be looking to extend their winning streak against Philadelphia to five games.

This game would be a prime candidate to be flexed into the Sunday Night Football slot except that the first game of the season had the prime time position already. Expect this to be America’s Game of the Week on Fox.

While the Cowboys have been known to get in their own way when things are looking too easy, they also have a habit of finishing the fight when a win is necessary. For this reason, I think Dallas will give their fans an early Christmas gift and beat their divisional rivals, improve their record to 10-5 and secure their playoff position.

In the season finale, Dallas will host the free-falling Washington Redskins. Dak Prescott will get the start but expect Cooper Rush to get most of the snaps at quarterback.

Dallas will be hoping for good health. Washington will be hoping for a Happy New Year.

With the Cowboys resting key positional players and Washington hoping to lose, the game will resemble the 2017 season finale when Dallas squeaked out a 6-0 win over the Eagles. That is to say, it won’t be a very pretty game to watch.

I think Washington’s desire to lose will be the difference in the game. The Cowboys will finish the season with their eleventh win.

Last year, I predicted the Cowboys to go 7-2 in their last nine games. Why mess with a good thing? I see Dallas doing the same in 2019.